Jellal and Erza Valentine's Day special
by Denying
Summary: Canon. Excerpt: "...He looked at her tenderly, a neat smile gracing his handsome features as the scarlet woman was taken aback and dumbfounded. She stood there without any sign of liveliness except breathing for a few long moments, as if she was frozen, but it wasn't the inexorable temperature of winter. Even in her wildest dreams she didn't dare to imagine a moment like this…"


Valentine's special

"Meet me in the usual spot two days from now on when the sun sets."

A simple note like this wasn't what would usually occupy the scarlet haired mage's head, but the addressee's manner of typing was all too familiar to her brown orbs. Erza couldn't help but wonder what he wanted, since their usual meetings involved the exchange of specific information or were just accidental encounters when their interest in the enemy coincided; but if either had an idea of another's location and sensed danger or had an unsettling feeling coming from near that position, they didn't hesitate to rush to possibly aid one another which was no coincidence at all. "Erza, are you alright?" Titania immediately snapped out of her trance-like mode by blinking and returning a concerned celestial wizard's gaze once her soft voice reached Erza's keen ears, giving the blonde mage a brief nod and curving an apologetic smile on her lips. "Yes, I'm just a bit out of it, sorry." Once the infamous knight gathered her thoughts and pushed back all the unnecessary distracting thoughts, time started moving around her again as her inner anticipation and anxiety was met with the guild's usual uproar and unrestricted resounding chatter. All of the Fairytail's members were gathered today to spend some free time from each of their relentless contribution towards rebuilding the damage Magnolia experienced during the war with the dark mage. Zeref was in the past as far as she was concerned, but the physical and mental damage left behind would take quite the time and effort to repair which was Erza's main focus for now, aside from her goal to improve personally so next time she'd be better prepared to protect her comrades. Peace was a temporary thing and there was no question a new threat would arise since Zeref had a lot of followers with the destructive mindset embedded into their heads. The only question was time and the sooner she improved, the better. Reaching out her right hand to grab the handle of a serious-sized goblet, she brought it to her lips and took another sip of the cold ale, stationing it back onto the table afterwards. The scarlet mage tried to stay active among her guildmates' jabbering for the rest of the evening and seemingly easing up as she took one sip after another, but her thoughts were already with him, the present worries and possibilities of what might've happened unquenchable. Erza finished another mug of the fine ale and peeked to the nearest window, her somewhat hazed eyes widening a bit upon realization that it was way past the set time when they were supposed to meet. Taking into the consideration that he was still not used to his newfound freedom and wasn't the type to wait for too long, not wanting to be noticed by foreign eyes, Erza found herself amidst new levels of anxiety as she swiftly shot up from her seat and paced towards the guild's entrance, waving back a silent "goodbye" to her friends, clearly in the rush. The scarlet female told her comrades beforehand that she had some urgent business to attend to which made both, the celestial spirit and the solid script magic wielding wizards give her sneaky smiles, making her face paint with almost the same color as her long, silky scarlet hair and immediately turn her head aside, denying and protesting any inclinations they made. Taking in a breath of fresh air, she closed the renewed, wooden doors behind her and pressed her back against it, quickly fixing her above-knee lengthed blue skirt and her sleeveless white blouse with a hanging ribbon around her neck, zipping the purple downy coat afterwards. Rushing towards their agreed place, she felt her body being quite unstable, which was brought out further as she picked up her pace, despite her mind staying clear and sharp as ever. Erza silently cursed her incapability to properly hold alcohol under her breath as she finally reached her destination.

"It's not usual for you to be late."

Erza's orbs were seeking to make contact with the owner of muffled, yet so soft and familiar voice that she hasn't heard in long months. Her poignant eyes continued to observe a faint silhouette merged with the darkness while taking in deep breaths, the aftereffect of haste, regaining her composure rather quick. He took a few steps towards the scarlet female, making his appearance visible, clear and just how she remembered it; his usual darker clothing, consisting of a white shirt with a blue tint under a hooded dark blue coat with light blue edges and a prominent golden symbol on his chest, shrewd dark cerulean eyes, scraggly, color matching semi-long hair of which only some random strands could be seen from the front, everything else was securely hooded.

"Jellal.." She regarded the male gently, with a reserved smile which corresponded to her inner turmoil appearing on her distinct features. Jellal's lips curved into a small smile of his own, almost smirking with the amusement which was none other than the infamous knight standing in front of him, Erza Scarlet. Having known her for years it was no struggle for him to tell when she buzzed, especially since her deep, dark chocolate induced eyes couldn't lie.

"Have you been drinking?" The blue haired mage continued, teasing Titania as the encounter reminded him that of a few years ago on a frosty Christmas evening, except she was dressed this time which came as a relief for Jellal. The reference evidently struck a chord with Erza as it caused her to turn her head sideways, away from his perceivable eyes and flush just a bit, but enough for him to notice which worked up his amusement further, though not importunate as his reason for a rather unexpected request to meet put his mind back on track of the subject he was about to tackle.

"That's.. Never mind that, what did you ask me to come here for?" Erza was the first who undertook the matter as she once again returned her attention to him, her expression regaining some of her usual seriousness as she crossed her unclothed hands.

Without any further ado, he dug his hand into the right pocket of his coat and pulled out a small black square box molded in a velvet material, stretching his hand out for her to take it.

"I wanted to give this to you." He looked at her tenderly, a neat smile gracing his handsome features as the scarlet woman was taken aback and dumbfounded. She stood there without any sign of liveliness except breathing for a few long moments, as if she was frozen, but it wasn't the inexorable temperature of winter. Even in her wildest dreams she didn't dare to imagine a moment like this…

Slowly blinking and letting out a breath she wasn't even aware she was holding, which resulted in a transparent white ball of warmth surrounded by the frost weather, she opened her mouth to say something, but could only stare at the box presented in front of her; Erza's bottom lip was left hanging as no words managed to leave her mouth.

Watching her previously unchanged countenance, Jellal calmly accepted her negligible shock, although he didn't expect such a rather acute reaction, but wasn't discouraged in the slightest. "It's a gift, take it, Erza." His soothing and pleasant voice gave out his smile and she couldn't help but tilt her head upwards to look at it. Encouraging her further, Jellal took another step closer towards the unarmored beauty and she finally reached her left hand out, taking the box and brushing her thumb against the soft material, examining it a bit before darting her gaze back to her childhood friend, questions that were almost readable in her eyes coming to life with her words as she parted her lips further to speak; "Is there an occasion?" This is the first time she has ever received a gift from him is what Erza wanted to add, but it wasn't true. Apart from material gifts, she was granted her current last name, a friend for life, an unbreakable bond of trust and companionship, many great advices, challenges which made her only stronger and much more. The thought of this and how grateful she was made her warm inside, though still dazzled.

Jellal gave her another mild smile which was supposed to act as an answer which didn't really satisfy her, but she figured he wanted for her to speculate and perhaps find it out on her own, so with such expectation the scarlet mage opened the delicate container and upon the discovery her brown pools were glued over, fingertips softly touching the edges of a couple bean-sized, round diamond earrings which had golden outlining. Before she could even form her thoughts, Jellal's voice reached her ears once again.

"I saw these during one of my travels and I thought it'd suit you." He stopped, hesitating for a bit before reaching out to gingerly move one of her thick red strands behind her ear, exposing Erza's current piece of jewelry, diamond-shaped silver earring. She reacted to his touch and her eyes were once again fixated on his, waiting on his unfinished sentence. Brushing his thumb against the rigid edges of silver, he continued, "diamond acquires its perfect shape under a lot of pressure, polished again and again it shows no signs of scrapes, yet it begins as a piece of common carbon.." He murmured under his nose, taken into the realm on the border of his conscious and subconscious as his fingers now caressed along her tucked strand all the way down before he removed his hand and blushed slightly, realizing what he just did. Subtly clearing his throat and desperately wishing his blush was unseen with the help of the shadow casted by the cloak's hood, he held her eyes in a trance-like contact. "Do you like it?"

"Jellal, it's.." Her orbs drifted towards the small, glossy earrings which dehisced as truly magnificent whenever she moved the box in correspondence with the reflected moonlight. ".. I just can't.." The blue haired mage could tell she loved it, Erza loved all things small and practical, yet she was still a woman that enjoyed attention and detail towards it. Pushing his index finger against her plump lips lightly and stopping her midway through the sentence, he gave her another kind and reassuring smile along with some conclusive words. "Yes you can, because I ask you to." With that, he removed his finger and closed the cap containing the earrings, squeezing her hand with the placed content in his and she was left with no place for any further protests. "At least let me thank you properly." She placed the canister into her pocket carefully and took a step closer, slowly closing the distance between them.

"E-Erza?" Jellal's eyes widened a bit as her cold palm reached its way towards his neck, sending some chills along his upper body, and attempted to pull him closer, their lips inches apart from each other as all the warmth she was feeling was reflected on her eyes, her cheeks containing a light shade of red, her lips parted and soft, making it almost impossible to resist the closing distance between them. Now it was his turn to stand fixed, unsure whether to pull away or lean in as Jellal still had his inner debates and disagreements, unfulfilled purposes and guilt which was still haunting him to this day, especially when it came to Erza. He didn't feel worthy of her unconditional love, she was too good to be tainted by someone like him and drawn into his deeds and the path of his personal atonement. Truth is, he owned her his life; whenever he felt like giving up on it, she would remind him of why he's still alive, that he still has unfinished business and responsibility towards this world. Responsibility towards her. He felt conflicted at the wrong moment as her silky, warm lips brushed against his, making all thoughts and questions but one vanish; was it so wrong to be selfish for just one moment? The love of his childhood and life was this close to him and he wasn't that strong to resist it for a second time. Or was it another chance to be happy? The way her heart was beating against his chest reminded him that his personal happiness was her sole existence and the fact that she loved him back made that happiness guilt-driven. He didn't want to make her wait, he couldn't give her any guarantees that they'd be together, he couldn't comfort her when she needed it the most, and yet..

His hands moved towards her waist and caressed along her curves which were still tangible even under a thick layer of clothing, pulling her closer and kissing back. Feeling him return the kisses, she deepened the exchange of their affection and her hand that was on his neck moved towards his hair, her fingers caressing along his blue strands, to which he responded with the same intensity; claiming her lips with his as they kept going softly, slowly, yet sensually. All of their worries, unmet expectations, doubts, confusing thoughts fading away further and further with each minute they kissed, time frozen around them as all they could feel was warmth and a new hope rising in both of their hearts, a small and fragile hope that things will take a turn in the future, that that future maybe, just maybe could be spent together.


End file.
